Ed-tech accelerator will focus on STEM development (continued)

“The edtech ecosystem is bubbling over with talent and ideas, yet teachers nationwide have identified a void in digital tools that support science learning across the K-12 spectrum. Our Science Learning Challenge will mobilize entrepreneurs to develop their most promising ideas to fill this void and give them opportunities to receive invaluable feedback from educators and researchers.” said Stacey Childress, Chief Executive Officer of NewSchools Venture Fund. “Through this program, we hope to empower more underserved students as explorers and creators, and to ignite students’ curiosity for deeper learning across the sciences.”

The NewSchools Ignite team will partner with researchers and science education specialists at WestEd to facilitate a research-based approach to product development among the cohort. WestEd will provide Science Learning Challenge winners with recommendations rooted in current education technology and science education literature, and provide product design feedback from a research perspective. The WestEd team will also collaborate with grant recipients on small-scale studies targeting usability and feasibility in the classroom, as well as studies that evaluate products’ early potential for improving educational outcomes for students.

“Teachers are continually looking for ways to enhance student learning opportunities and help them meet the challenging new Next Generation Science Standards,” said Steve Schneider, Senior Program Director of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program at WestEd, and principal investigator of the National Science Foundation’s Center for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning. “WestEd is excited to support NewSchools Ignite and its grant recipients in an effort to develop finely-tuned science learning technologies at a time when educators and students need them most.”

Visit NewSchools Ignite to learn more and apply for the Science Learning Challenge. As a virtual accelerator, NewSchools Ignite offers a highly customized program and does not require its entrepreneurs to relocate in order to participate. NewSchools Venture Fund will not request equity from challenge winners.

Laura Ascione

Laura Ascione is the Managing Editor, Content Services at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland's prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Find Laura on Twitter: @eSN_Laurahttp://twitter.com/eSN_Laura